Whether it’s at featherweight or lightweight, Salahdine Parnasse is a bad man.
Parnasse kept his 155-pound KSW title run alive on Saturday evening, getting past former champ Marian Ziolkowski with a second-round stoppage at the LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.
Parnasse unleashed damaging ground and pound strikes against Ziolkowski in the second round after getting the Polish fighter down to the mat, eventually causing an end to the bout.
A left hand in particular from the champ seemingly hurt Ziolkowski on the ground, causing him to shell up as he continued to consume hard punches from Parnasse. Referee Lukasz Bosacki eventually saw enough and stepped in to end the title fight.
The bout moved at a slow pace prior to the finish, albeit in a way which worked for Parnasse. The French fighter controlled Ziolkowski up against the cage for most of the opening round, then pressed forward with his strikes during the second round.
A fight between Parnasse and Ziolkowski had been attempted in years past by KSW, but only came together this weekend by pure chance.
Parnasse was originally scheduled to face former UFC fighter Marcin Held, who lined himself up for a title fight following a pair of KSW wins last year. However, after Held withdrew from the bout due to a rib injury, Ziolkowski was promoted from a fight on the undercard to an opportunity against the champ.
Back in 2022, a potential fight between Parnasse and Ziolkowski was a big deal. Ziolkowski had held a title at lightweight for two years by that time, and Parnasse carried a strong reputation for his performances down at featherweight. At the time, it was a clash between two highly successful names in the promotion.
But for the longest time, a meeting between the two couldn’t come to fruition. Ziolkowski withdrew from two separate bookings against Parnasse due to injury, with the latter of the two cancelled bouts marking an end to his time as champion.
Ziolkowski had much less hype heading into Saturday, returning after an injury caused him to lose a fight last year.
Parnasse, who has held KSW’s featherweight title since 2021, has also dominated the lightweight division since late 2022. He previously defended his lightweight belt against Wilson Varela and Valeriu Mircea in appearances last year, both via finish.
Here are the results for KSW’s latest appearance in France:
Bout 9: Salahdine Parnasse def. Marian Ziolkowski via TKO, Strikes (KSW Lightweight Championship)
Bout 8: Laid Zerhouni def. Damian Janikowski via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:54)
Bout 7: Amin Ayoub def. Mickael Lebout via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Mateusz Makarowski def. Aymard Guih via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Alioune Nahaye def. Piotr Kacprzak via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:30)
Bout 4: Joel Kouadja def. Michal Guzik via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Amaury Wako def. Kacper Fornalski via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:16)
Bout 2: Hugo Deux def. Krystian Blezien via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Souheil Kaouchen def. Oskar Stachura via Decision, Unanimous
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